Cigar Coop Prime Time Show

2021 Cigar of the Year Countdown (Coop’s List): #21 - Aganorsa Leaf Supreme Leaf Robusto

Coming in at #21 is the Aganorsa Leaf Supreme Leaf Robusto. This is an excellent cigar but lands on our list because of some of the peculiarities of the way we do our list. The Robusto was a one-time release in early 2020 that sold out rather quickly. While other sizes were re-released, the Robusto was not. We managed to review it late in 2020 - which qualifies it for the 2021 list.

Over the years Aganorsa Leaf has garnered a reputation for the ”leaf” (a.k.a. tobacco) it grows being some of the best produced in the world. The Aganorsa Leaf Supreme Leaf pays homage to that as it is 100% comprised of tobaccos grown on the Aganorsa farms in Nicaragua. The blend is described as Corojo '99 dominant. The Robusto size is a box-pressed that measures 5 x 52.

The Aganorsa Leaf Supreme Leaf Robusto offers quite a lot in the way of complexity. This cigar produced notes of natural tobacco, earth, dried fruit, baker’s spice, cedar, and wood, as well as black and white pepper. One thing that was very clear during the evaluation process is that this is a blend/size combination that responded very well to aging.

This is the eighth year Aganorsa Leaf has landed on the Countdown. This included seven consecutive years from 2013 to 2019. Nicaragua is emerging as a dominant country on the list. Of the ten cigars we have unveiled moving up the Countdown, this is the sixth one from Nicaragua in 2021.

For details of the 2021 Cigar of the Year Countdown, see our 2021 criteria: https://cigar-coop.com/2021/12/announcement-criteria-for-the-2021-cigar-of-the-year-countdown.html

Cigar Coop Report: https://wp.me/p6h1n1-lDy

The Smoking Syndicate: Quesada Corner - Casa Magna Liga F Churchill (Audio)

We are back another edition of Quesada Corner. On this installment, we smoke the Casa Magna Liga F. This was a cigar that made its debut at the 2021 Premium Cigar Association Trade Show.

Tune in to learn about this cigar and get our thoughts on it and how it compares to the iconic Casa Magna Colorado

The Smoking Syndicate: Quesada Corner - Casa Magna Liga F Churchill

We are back another edition of Quesada Corner. On this installment, we smoke the Casa Magna Liga F. This was a cigar that made its debut at the 2021 Premium Cigar Association Trade Show.

Tune in to learn about this cigar and get our thoughts on it and how it compares to the iconic Casa Magna Colorado

2021 Cigar of the Year Countdown (Coop’s List): #22 – All Saints St. Francis Oscuro Toro (Audio)

Coming in at #22 is the All Saints St. Francis Toro. All Saints Fine Cigars was founded by industry veteran Micky Pegg. Pegg was Vice President of Sales at CAO Cigars, and prior to that worked at Davidoff, Felipe Gregorio Cigars, and Georgetown Tobacco. Shortly after CAO was absorbed into General Cigar Company, Pegg would take a hiatus from the cigar industry, but eventually would drawn back and launch a company. That company would be All Saints Fine Cigars. The St. Francis Line would be his second line released just prior to the 2021 Premium Cigar Association Trade Show.

The St. Francis is produced at Rocky Patel's TAVICUSA factory in Estelí, Nicaragua. It features a Nicaraguan binder and filler wrapped by an Ecuadorian Habano Oscuro wrapper. The Toro size which lands on the list is a 6 1/2 x 50 box-pressed vitola.

The All Saints St. Francis Toro delivers a balanced medium strength, medium-bodied profile consisting of notes of coffee, cedar, citrus, pepper, baker’s spice, and chocolate. If you are looking for a cigar with classic black coffee flavors that come from the natural tobacco leaves (ie. no flavoring or infusion), the All Saints St. Francis Oscuro Toro is the cigar for you.

This is the first year All Saints Fine Cigars has landed on the Countdown. Of the nine cigars we have unveiled moving up the Countdown, this is the fifth one from Nicaragua in 2021.

For details of the 2021 Cigar of the Year Countdown, see our 2021 criteria:
https://cigar-coop.com/2021/12/announcement-criteria-for-the-2021-cigar-of-the-year-countdown.html

Cigar Coop Report: https://wp.me/p6h1n1-lDp

2021 Cigar of the Year Countdown (Coop’s List): #22 – All Saints St. Francis Oscuro Toro

Coming in at #22 is the All Saints St. Francis Toro. All Saints Fine Cigars was founded by industry veteran Micky Pegg. Pegg was Vice President of Sales at CAO Cigars, and prior to that worked at Davidoff, Felipe Gregorio Cigars, and Georgetown Tobacco. Shortly after CAO was absorbed into General Cigar Company, Pegg would take a hiatus from the cigar industry, but eventually would drawn back and launch a company. That company would be All Saints Fine Cigars. The St. Francis Line would be his second line released just prior to the 2021 Premium Cigar Association Trade Show.

The St. Francis is produced at Rocky Patel's TAVICUSA factory in Estelí, Nicaragua. It features a Nicaraguan binder and filler wrapped by an Ecuadorian Habano Oscuro wrapper. The Toro size which lands on the list is a 6 1/2 x 50 box-pressed vitola.

The All Saints St. Francis Toro delivers a balanced medium strength, medium-bodied profile consisting of notes of coffee, cedar, citrus, pepper, baker’s spice, and chocolate. If you are looking for a cigar with classic black coffee flavors that come from the natural tobacco leaves (ie. no flavoring or infusion), the All Saints St. Francis Oscuro Toro is the cigar for you.

This is the first year All Saints Fine Cigars has landed on the Countdown. Of the nine cigars we have unveiled moving up the Countdown, this is the fifth one from Nicaragua in 2021.

For details of the 2021 Cigar of the Year Countdown, see our 2021 criteria:
https://cigar-coop.com/2021/12/announcement-criteria-for-the-2021-cigar-of-the-year-countdown.html

Cigar Coop Report: https://wp.me/p6h1n1-lDp

2021 Cigar of the Year Countdown (Coop’s List): #23 – Perdomo Reserve 10th Anniversary Box-Pressed Sun Grown Epicure (Audio)

Coming in at #23 is the Perdomo Reserve 10th Anniversary Box-Pressed Sun Grown Epicure. Perdomo Cigars is not know for making a lot of new cigars, but in 2020 a couple of new blends were introduced under the Perdomo 10th Anniversary Reserve. These cigars are the Perdomo 10th Anniversary Reserve Box Pressed Sun Grown and Maduro offerings. To make room for these cigars, Perdomo made the decision to retire two other blends in the line – the Champagne Noir and the Champagne Sun Grown (but leaving the ever-popular original Perdomo 10th Anniversary Reserve Champagne). While these blends will be missed, the new blends come up very big for Perdomo. Today it’s the Perdomo 10th Anniversary Box Pressed Sun Grown in the Epicure size that lands on the Countdown.

The blend for the Perdomo Reserve 10th Anniversary Sun Grown features 100% Nicaraguan tobaccos. According to Perdomo Cigars, the 10th Anniversary Sun Grown uses a six-year aged Cuban-seed wrapper, binder, and fillers from its farms in Estelí, Condega, and Jalapa. The wrapper itself also has an additional ten months of age on it. Production is handled out of the Tabacalera Perdomo S.A. facility in Estelí, Nicaragua. The Epicure measures 6 x 54.

Along the way, the Perdomo Reserve 10th Anniversary Box Pressed Sun Grown Epicure delivers notes of earth, natural tobacco, baker’s spice, wood, nut, and black pepper. The flavors shine when working in unison, and are balanced throughout this medium strength, medium-bodied cigar. It’s also a well-balanced cigar with enough complexity to keep one interested from start to finish.

Now a sibling to legendary Perdomo 10th Anniversary Reserve Champagne, the 10th Anniversary Reserve Sun Grown earns its place among the elite.

This is the second time Perdomo Cigars has landed on this list. As we continue to move up the Countdown, Nicaragua is making a strong showing as it has landed four cigars on the list thus far.

For details of the 2021 Cigar of the Year Countdown, see our 2021 criteria:
https://cigar-coop.com/2021/12/announcement-criteria-for-the-2021-cigar-of-the-year-countdown.html

Cigar Coop Report: https://wp.me/p6h1n1-lBX

2021 Cigar of the Year Countdown (Coop’s List): #23 – Perdomo Reserve 10th Anniversary Box-Pressed Sun Grown Epicure

Coming in at #23 is the Perdomo Reserve 10th Anniversary Box-Pressed Sun Grown Epicure. Perdomo Cigars is not know for making a lot of new cigars, but in 2020 a couple of new blends were introduced under the Perdomo 10th Anniversary Reserve. These cigars are the Perdomo 10th Anniversary Reserve Box Pressed Sun Grown and Maduro offerings. To make room for these cigars, Perdomo made the decision to retire two other blends in the line – the Champagne Noir and the Champagne Sun Grown (but leaving the ever-popular original Perdomo 10th Anniversary Reserve Champagne). While these blends will be missed, the new blends come up very big for Perdomo. Today it’s the Perdomo 10th Anniversary Box Pressed Sun Grown in the Epicure size that lands on the Countdown.

The blend for the Perdomo Reserve 10th Anniversary Sun Grown features 100% Nicaraguan tobaccos. According to Perdomo Cigars, the 10th Anniversary Sun Grown uses a six-year aged Cuban-seed wrapper, binder, and fillers from its farms in Estelí, Condega, and Jalapa. The wrapper itself also has an additional ten months of age on it. Production is handled out of the Tabacalera Perdomo S.A. facility in Estelí, Nicaragua. The Epicure measures 6 x 54.

Along the way, the Perdomo Reserve 10th Anniversary Box Pressed Sun Grown Epicure delivers notes of earth, natural tobacco, baker’s spice, wood, nut, and black pepper. The flavors shine when working in unison, and are balanced throughout this medium strength, medium-bodied cigar. It’s also a well-balanced cigar with enough complexity to keep one interested from start to finish.

Now a sibling to legendary Perdomo 10th Anniversary Reserve Champagne, the 10th Anniversary Reserve Sun Grown earns its place among the elite.

This is the second time Perdomo Cigars has landed on this list. As we continue to move up the Countdown, Nicaragua is making a strong showing as it has landed four cigars on the list thus far.

For details of the 2021 Cigar of the Year Countdown, see our 2021 criteria:
https://cigar-coop.com/2021/12/announcement-criteria-for-the-2021-cigar-of-the-year-countdown.html

Cigar Coop Report: https://wp.me/p6h1n1-lBX

The Smoking Syndicate: Valacari The Messenger Robusto Extra (Audio)

I’ve become more of a medium-bodied cigar smoker over the past 4 or 5 years, and a larger part of that has been Connecticut wrapper cigars.  One of my all time favorites was the Balmoral Anejo XO Connecticut (RIP) which was, sadly, discontinued after General Cigar acquire their parent company, Royal Agio, a few years back.  I’m still quite bitter about this, but life goes on.  I smoked those almost every day which meant I needed to find a replacement.  One of my goes to Connecticut cigars before the Balmoral was the EP Carrillo New Wave Connecticut and New Wave Reserva, so I started to smoke more of those.  My friend Nimmer Ahmad of Valacari Cigars mentioned to me that he was redoing his Connecticut Shade cigar and asked if I would like to try some samples and help find the next Valacari Connecticut cigar.  After many, many samples, we finally decided on what today is called The Messenger.  It took me a long time to decide to review this cigar.  My thinking was that since I had a hand in deciding which blend to use, that it seemed unfair to rate it.  Many people have noticed me smoking them, especially on my Instagram account, and have asked about them.  That made me decide to go ahead a do the review.  If you think that would make me bias, just listen to my description and ignore the rating.  Either way, enjoy the video and pick some of these up when you get a chance.

 

• Wrapper:  Ecuadorian Connecticut
• Binder:  Nicaraguan
• Filler:  Nicaraguan from Jalapa, Condega & Ometepe
• Vitola:  Robusto Extra
• Size:  5 1/2 x 54
• Price:  $8.00/Mazo of 10 $80.00

Final Score:  93

The Smoking Syndicate: Valacari The Messenger Robusto Extra

I’ve become more of a medium-bodied cigar smoker over the past 4 or 5 years, and a larger part of that has been Connecticut wrapper cigars.  One of my all time favorites was the Balmoral Anejo XO Connecticut (RIP) which was, sadly, discontinued after General Cigar acquire their parent company, Royal Agio, a few years back.  I’m still quite bitter about this, but life goes on.  I smoked those almost every day which meant I needed to find a replacement.  One of my goes to Connecticut cigars before the Balmoral was the EP Carrillo New Wave Connecticut and New Wave Reserva, so I started to smoke more of those.  My friend Nimmer Ahmad of Valacari Cigars mentioned to me that he was redoing his Connecticut Shade cigar and asked if I would like to try some samples and help find the next Valacari Connecticut cigar.  After many, many samples, we finally decided on what today is called The Messenger.  It took me a long time to decide to review this cigar.  My thinking was that since I had a hand in deciding which blend to use, that it seemed unfair to rate it.  Many people have noticed me smoking them, especially on my Instagram account, and have asked about them.  That made me decide to go ahead a do the review.  If you think that would make me bias, just listen to my description and ignore the rating.  Either way, enjoy the video and pick some of these up when you get a chance.

 

• Wrapper:  Ecuadorian Connecticut
• Binder:  Nicaraguan
• Filler:  Nicaraguan from Jalapa, Condega & Ometepe
• Vitola:  Robusto Extra
• Size:  5 1/2 x 54
• Price:  $8.00/Mazo of 10 $80.00

Final Score:  93

Prime Time Episode 213 Audio: Jeff Haugen, Crux Cigars

Tonight, we are honored to talk to the founder and president of Crux Cigars, Jeff Haugen.

In seven years, Jeff has emerged as one of the rising stars in the cigar business – building his company in a unique way. Jeff’s taking a very hands-on approach to his products, and his efforts are certainly paying off. Tonight we’ll talk to Jeff and learn about his journey in the business.